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Medical examiner changes Sandra Birchmore’s manner of death from ‘suicide’ to ‘undetermined’
Former Stoughton police detective Matthew Farwell allegedly killed Birchmore in 2021 and staged her death to appear as if it were a suicide.
Sandra Birchmore’s death certificate was amended this week by the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Her cause of death was changed from “asphyxia by hanging” to “asphyxia,” and her manner of death was changed from “suicide” to “undetermined,” according to a spokesperson for the OCME. The updated record was filed with the Canton Town Clerk’s office.
The change comes as the former Stoughton police detective accused of killing Birchmore pushes to be released on bail before his trial this fall.
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That former detective, Matthew Farwell, was indicted on a murder charge in 2024. Prosecutors say he strangled Birchmore to death and staged the scene to make it appear as if she hanged herself in her Canton apartment in February 2021.
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The state medical examiner’s office initially ruled that Birchmore died by suicide three months after her body was found. Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey’s office investigated Birchmore’s death but did not file criminal charges.
Maria Capo-Martinez of the OCME conducted Birchmore’s autopsy and made the initial determination that Birchmore died by suicide, according to court documents. Another forensic pathologist and medical examiner employed by the federal government was asked to give a second opinion, and they concurred with Capo-Martinez’s findings.
Federal investigators sought a third opinion from William Smock, a doctor who specializes in emergency medicine. Smock said that Birchmore was strangled and died by homicide, but Farwell’s lawyers argue that Smock is not an expert in forensic pathology.
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Farwell’s indictment came a few months after another high-profile forensic pathologist hired by Birchmore’s family called her death a homicide.
“As previously stated, OCME findings are based on the information available at the time of determination and may be updated if new information becomes available,” the spokesperson said in their statement Friday. “The OCME extends its continued sympathy to Ms. Birchmore’s loved ones as they mourn this tragic loss. This case remains an active investigation by the United States Attorney’s Office, and the OCME cannot comment further on investigative matters at this time.”
Birchmore died at the age of 23. She was pregnant at the time. Farwell also stands accused of causing the death of her unborn son.
Prosecutors say Farwell met Birchmore when she was a high school member of the Stoughton Police Department’s Police Explorers Academy, which was meant to educate young people who were interested in a career in law enforcement. They allegedly began a sexual relationship in 2013, with an act of statutory rape. Farwell was 27 at the time, and Birchmore was 15.
Farwell allegedly groomed Birchmore and maintained a sexual relationship with her for years. They sometimes met for sexual interactions while Farwell was on the clock, which prosecutors say constituted wire fraud.
Birchmore learned she was pregnant in late 2020, and Farwell allegedly believed he was the father. This, prosecutors say, is the reason Farwell killed Birchmore.
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Farwell has pleaded not guilty. He has been held in a Rhode Island detention center since his arrest in 2024.
Subsequent DNA testing revealed that Farwell was not actually the father of Birchmore’s unborn son, according to court documents. The true parentage of Birchmore’s son is not publicly known.
Farwell’s DNA was found on the strap that was allegedly used to kill Birchmore, prosecutors said in court documents submitted last month. Birchmore was found on the floor of her apartment with a duffel bag strap tied around her neck. The strap was connected to a closet doorknob, according to investigators.
Although Farwell initially agreed to be held without bail, he asked to be released on $50,000 bail and a number of other conditions in March. His lawyers argued that he is not a flight risk, citing the fact that he remained in Massachusetts after Birchmore’s body was found and even took out a 10-year loan to start his own business. Farwell “remained singularly focused on providing for his family and protecting them from the circus-like atmosphere” that followed Birchmore’s death, his lawyers wrote.
In court documents filed last week, prosecutors argued that new evidence from Farwell’s phone shows that he is in fact a flight risk and a danger to the community. They cite pornographic videos Farwell’s phone accessed in 2021 and 2022 as evidence that he “maintains an interest in the sexualization of teenagers.”
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Prosecutors also refer to a message that Farwell allegedly wrote in his phone’s notes app on June 24, 2024, the day that media outlets widely reported that the forensic pathologist hired by Birchmore’s family determined that her death was a homicide.
In that note, which was intended to be sent to a close friend, Farwell wrote that he wished “this had all gone a different way.” He asked his friend to help raise his children and to not forget his wife. Farwell wrote that “this is the hardest thing [he has] ever done” and that he would see his friend “on the other side,” according to court documents. This, prosecutors say, is evidence that Farwell poses a flight risk if he were to be released.
A judge has yet to rule on Farwell’s request to be released on bail.
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